


One Last Surprise

by jelly_pies



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Canon Fix-It, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18812509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jelly_pies/pseuds/jelly_pies
Summary: The snap brings Tony to the Soul Stone to meet an old friend. From there, things don't quite go as he expects."I know I said no more surprises, but I gotta say, I was really hoping to pull off one last one." Maybe this time he gets to.





	1. Tony

**Author's Note:**

> Non-plot-heavy fixit!

"And I... am... Iron Man."  
  
It was never a decision. Not really. Someone had to do it, and ever since Strange saved his life on Titan, Tony had always had the feeling that that someone was going to end up being him.  
  
He knew Steve would have done the same. Or Thor, or Carol, or anyone, really, if they could. And they'd do it because they were heroes, and that's what heroes do, right? Save the world, something like that?  
  
Only, they weren't there. Tony was. And right now he had a wife who-knows-where in this hell of a battlefield. He had friends he would willingly risk life and limb for, fighting for their lives. He had just gotten back Peter. And somewhere he had a daughter waiting in a cottage by the lake, a daughter who had never known a life before Thanos.  
  
_They_ were his world. He'd do it for them.  
  
He snapped his fingers.

 

* * *

 

Calm. It was calm here. No sign of the Avengers, no sign of --- anything. Just water and a red sky. And calm.  
  
Tony sat up, rubbed his right hand over his eyes almost automatically. He froze. No gauntlet. He turned his arm around, tested it... no injuries, either. Just his suit, whole and clean. He looked around. Just him.  
  
Slowly he pushed himself off the ground. _I'm... dead. I think? Well, what else could this be?_  
  
Rhodey was --- had been --- then Peter and --- and Pepper. Pepper had been so brave. Sweaty from battle, holding back tears. Tony thought she had never looked more beautiful.  
  
But that was --- before. Right? Pepper had let him rest. _This is it. It's done._ He didn't think he could feel this calm about it. And yet here he was. _I'm dead._  
  
Sensing a shadow behind him, Tony turned around. It was --- no. It couldn't.  
  
Tony's sudden laugh rang out in the silence. He didn't know what he expected the afterlife to be like... but the Avengers compound? Appearing out of nowhere? _Really?_ He allowed himself to laugh a little longer before setting off towards it. It felt pleasantly cathartic.  
  
Just the main building, Tony observed as he made his way in. No helipad, no driveway, no sign of Thanos' destruction. Everything as he remembered it, everything still in place ---  
  
"Tony."  
  
Repulsers out, power on, mask snapping in place as Tony whipped around. Automatic reaction from 15 years of being Iron Man. Face the threat ---  
  
No. _No._ No threat. Powering his repulsers down, Tony slowly lowered his arms. How could he not have recognized that voice?  
  
She wasn't in her combat suit, but everything else seemed to be the same. She wore a casual sweater instead, her hair falling free on her shoulders, the softest yet most inscrutable expression on her face. Then again, when had she ever not been inscrutable?  
  
He opened his mask. Looked her in the eye.  
  
"Nat?"  
  
She smiled gently. "Mr. Stark. You miss me?"

 

* * *

 

Dr. Helen Cho considered herself an imperturbable woman. So much had gone through her labs that would have unsettled any other person, probably to the point of quitting. Rogue killer robots? Burning skin that re-grew limbs? The dust of hundreds of vanished people sent for analysis? It barely fazed her now.  
  
So when they assigned her to handle the body, Cho wasn't surprised. She was practically the only option, because of her previous medical connections to him and also because no one had ever seen anything like this before. They just needed to run a few tests, nothing but a little more advanced version of an autopsy.  
  
Of course, it felt strange to perform an autopsy on someone whose funeral had been held yesterday. But the tests were taking longer than expected --- she hadn't even done the actual autopsy yet, as the radiation scans were taking forever. And his team had wanted to honor him as soon as they could before everyone returned to their own lives.  
  
So here she was on a lonely weekend, monitoring the body readings of the universe's hero. Not that she minded. It was the least she could do. Today was no different from the previous days; the virtual monitors displayed the usual tests in progress, multiple sensors beeped in a rythm, the red light in the corner flashed rapidly ---  
  
The red light.  
  
And just like that, the imperturbable doctor sent her chair skidding across the room. Brought up even more monitors with a single hand motion. Radioed her team in two at a time.  
  
_They were right about one thing,_ the thought flew to the top of her whirling mind. _No one had ever seen anything like this before._

 

* * *

 

Eight hours later Cho returned to the control room, exhausted and beaming, a soldier returning from a successful mission. She just had one last thing to do.  
  
"Eve, call Nick Fury."  
  
One monitor flashed briefly, then indicated a palm scan. "Authorization required," came the female computerized voice.  
  
She raised her hand --- and paused. Maybe... maybe not yet.  
  
"Cancel," she commanded, pulling a chair up. "This is gonna take a while." She exhaled, fixed her hair, prepared herself mentally. This was probably the hardest thing she'd had to do all day.  
  
"Eve. Call Pepper Stark."


	2. Pepper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has a talk with Nat, while Pepper tries to figure out just what is going on with her apparently-dead husband.

It had been three months now since Dr. Cho called her. The hardest three months Pepper ever had to endure. Yes, Tony had faced death before, and yes, he'd even gone missing in space for almost a month. But this was different, so different. Worse than Afghanistan, worse than thinking him dead after the Malibu incident, worse than the aftermath of the Decimation. Because this time Tony had actually died. Tony is... was... dead. _Past tense,_ Pepper had to keep telling herself. _Past tense._  
  
No one could explain it, not even Helen. One day his systems just... rebooted. They were able to get him steady, and then he was technically, medically speaking, alive. In a coma, for lack of a better word. A kind of coma no one on earth had ever seen before. But alive.  
  
And no one else knew. She had stood her ground on that. No one in the higher-ups of SHIELD, no one outside Dr. Cho's capable (and thankfully government-independent) team. No one who could turn this intensely personal struggle and scientific miracle into some overblown superhero propaganda.  
  
She hadn't even told Rhodey, or Happy, or Bruce, or Peter. She hadn't even told her own daughter. What was there to tell? Tony was about 12% alive as opposed to completely dead like before. He'd been that way for three months. He might be that way forever. False hope was always a heavy burden, one that Pepper hoped none of her family would ever have to bear.  
  
But she would be here. She'd be here as long as it took, until Tony finally rested for good, or until ---  
  
No. She wouldn't tempt fate. This one miracle was already too much to ask for; surely another one was deep in the realms of the impossible. Wasn't it? Besides, she'd already made her peace.  
  
Hadn't she?

 

* * *

 

"Nat?"  
  
Natasha Romanoff smiled gently. "Mr. Stark. You miss me?" Oh, she missed _him_ , that was sure. She missed all of them.  
  
"Nat. Where--?"  
  
She motioned to the living room behind them. "Maybe we'd better sit down for this, Tony. That question might take a while."  
  
He nodded and retracted his suit, following her to the sofa. "Hey, hold on." Before they reached it, Tony jogged up and pulled her into a hug.

 

* * *

  
  
Pepper had only met the man three times before, and none of those had been very happy occasions. She didn't even know if he could actually help her now. But she was getting desperate. He'd carried one of those damn stones around for years, hadn't he? If he didn't have any answers, who would? And so one day, Pepper found herself knocking on the door of the New York Sanctum.  
  
Stephen Strange reacted quite calmly to her story, even serving some drinks while he thought things through. Pepper felt good, actually, to finally get it off her chest, tell someone else. However, she did have one last question.  
  
"Doctor, Tony once mentioned something about... you seeing the future? Did you --- did you happen to see what happens now?"  
  
Strange was sitting across from her, his fingers pressed together under his chin. "No, I'm afraid I didn't," he replied without dropping his blank stare. "I only wanted to see the outcome of the war. I never looked beyond Thanos' death. But it wouldn't matter if I had; time isn't set in stone." He smiled slightly at the irony of that statement, fingering the now-empty pendant against his chest. Suddenly he stood up. "Mrs. Stark, I'm afraid there's not much I can do from here. I can't give you any answers right now, but... would you be willing to let me see him?"

 

* * *

 

"Wow," Natasha slumped back on the armchair as if tired from a long day. "Wow."  
  
"Yeah. You missed out on quite a bit, Nat." Tony lay on the couch, a pillow against his chest. Somehow telling the story felt like a therapy session. "But it's over. We won."  
  
"I'm sorry, Tony." He looked up at her questioningly. "For what you... had to pay for that victory."  
  
"Hey, we're in the same boat," he replied softly. "Whatever it takes, right? Besides, afterlife's not turning out so bad."  
  
Natasha sat straight up. "Yeah... about that..."  
  
"About --- what?" Something in her tone made Tony frown as he sat up too.  
  
"Tony... okay, look. This place, this is --- this is the Soul Stone. You're here because you used the stones, and you meet the person whose death got you the Soul Stone in the first place. It's --- procedure, kind of. At least, that's what they say." She shrugged, making sure she had Tony's full attention before continuing. "Now, two things can happen from here. We can look outside, and suddenly it's not all red sky anymore. Instead it's... almost like the home we knew before. You're right, the afterlife's not that bad," she smiled.  
  
Tony nodded, taking her word for it. "Okay. What's the second thing?"  
  
Nat took a breath. "Or... you could wake up. Like what happened to Bruce after his own snap. He was here so fast, I don't think he even noticed --- he just woke up straight away, and I left the Stone as soon as he did."  
  
"Woke up? You mean --- you mean... Nat, tell me you mean what I think you mean."  
  
She nodded slowly. "Tony... you're not --- technically speaking --- you're not... dead."

 

* * *

 

"Look, I don't... really have the answer here. I'm sorry, I know it's not what you wanted. But I might have a guess." The three of them stood in Dr. Cho's control room, both women facing Strange expectantly.  
  
"Well. Anything helps," Cho offered. She stepped closer to Pepper in a reassuring gesture.  
  
Strange sighed. "We're supposed to be the, uh, masters of the mystic arts. But I'll be the first to admit there are still many mysteries out there that baffle us. Including those stones." He motioned at the body on the other side of the glass --- pale, battle-scarred, hooked up to tubes and machines all around the room, but alive. "Those stones did something to him, somehow. And I know he was dead... I know, you checked, but --- I was dead too. Before. And --- and the Time Stone reversed it, multiple times, even. I don't think it's still the Time Stone's work this time, but... All I'm saying is, crazy as it sounds, this is actually within the realm of possibilities. We just didn't know it."  
  
"So what now?" Pepper's voice sounded calm, collected --- completely opposite to what she was feeling. "Can we... help it along? Get him to wake up?"  
  
"I don't think so, Mrs. Stark." Strange spoke softly. "He seems to be in a state of... extended response to the exposure of all six Stones. I think all we can do now is wait."

 

* * *

 

"This is crazy. This is --- it's crazy." Tony sat with his head in his hands. Sensing some movement, he realized Natasha had come to sit beside him.  
  
"Those stones were never meant to be used together at all," she said softly. "Fourth time it happens and... things start to get a little crazy."  
  
"So--so how long have I been here, actually?"  
  
"I can't answer that, Tony. Time works a little differently here."  
  
"And how do I wake up?"  
  
She placed her hand on his knee. "You don't have to do anything. I think it's already starting."  
  
His hands dropped to his lap. _"What?"_  
  
"Tony, look out the window. What do you see?"  
  
He looked up obediently. "I don't know --- same as when I got here, looks like. Red sky, red water."  
  
She nodded. "That's what I thought. You know when I look out, I'm starting to see the compound. Blue sky, nice summer day." She took one of Tony's hands in hers. "We're both leaving this place now, Tony, but we're not going in the same direction."  
  
Tony tightened his grip on her hand. "Nat, I --- can't I take you with me?"  
  
Natasha chuckled sadly. "I'm afraid the rules are different for me."  
  
"I'm sorry." Tony reached out and took both her hands in his. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say."  
  
"Tony, there's nothing to be sorry for." Her eyes locked with his. Friendly, familiar, sincere. "Give everyone back home my love, will you?"

 

* * *

 

"Dr. Cho! You need to come see this."  
  
Just like that, six simple words sent the whole laboratory in a flurry. Cho dashed around, pulling up virtual monitors, barking orders.  
  
"Alright, everyone, we've done this before!" A press of a button, a palm scan verification, and suddenly the whole lab and its equipment whirred to full power like a single mechanism. "Four months is a long time to wait. Let's make good on this one."

 

* * *

 

Dark. It was all dark. Nat had pulled him in for one last embrace --- he'd closed his eyes --- and she was gone. And the world went dark.  
  
It had all gone by so fast. So fast, Tony still wasn't sure how he felt about it.  
  
He'd died, and he'd accepted that. And he'd rested --- or he was about to. But suddenly everything flipped on its head. Suddenly he had another chance.  
  
Pepper. He had another chance to see _Pepper_. Another chance to be with his family.  
  
Tony had died. And he had accepted that. But now --- another chance at life?  
  
Hell yes. He'd accept that, too.

 

* * *

 

They had moved him out of the lab, into what they set up as a hospital room. Because that was all he needed now. A normal hospital room, for a normal patient in a normal coma.  
  
_Normal._ Pepper thought she'd never hear that word referring to Tony's condition again.  
  
She gazed at her husband, the burnt right side of his face, the empty space beside him where his right arm used to be, the visible rising and falling of his chest. Battered, sure, but breathing. Alive.  
  
Strange was able to validate his initial guess --- an extended Soul Stone-related repurcussion from the snap, which lasted just long enough to get Tony to Cho's facilities. Helen helped out with the technicalities of declaring a previously deceased person alive --- which was simply, in this case, don't. Pepper put her foot down, Helen supported her decision, and Strange declared it a one-time phenomenon of no great importance to the general population anyway.  
  
If Tony ever wanted to reveal himself to the world, get back in contact with SHIELD and the Avengers, he could make that choice later. For now, Pepper would let her husband rest.  
  
"You know," she yawned, "I could probably use some rest too." She lounged on an armchair by Tony's bedside, her haunt for the last twelve days. Between staying with Morgan in the house every morning, sitting with Tony every night, and handling urgent Stark Industries calls whenever she could grab a spare moment, Pepper had had a hectic couple of weeks. "You could really help me along here, Tony. Wake up, then we can all be together at home." She reached over, brushed some stray hair out of his eyes. "We should probably cut this, okay, it's getting pretty long now. Unless you don't want to." She brushed her fingers lightly against the left side of his face, cradled his cheek. "I'm sorry I haven't brought Morgan over yet. She knows, okay? I told her. But if she sees you like this, Tony... I just don't want to scare her." His chest rose and fell in its usual rythm. He could hear her, Helen had said. Talk to him, talk to yourself, keep his senses alert. "Let's just wait until you can get home. One last surprise, right? I'm telling you, she'd love this one."  
  
Silence fell, and eventually so did Pepper's drowsiness. She drifted off with her right hand in Tony's left, a composting book forgotten on her lap.  
  
Tony found her that way an hour later. Heavy eyebags, snoring, absolutely _beautiful_. Gently he brought her hand up, kissed it, laid it against the arc reactor still on his chest. Placing his hand on top of his wife's, Tony let himself drift back to sleep. His steady breathing synced with hers in a comforting harmony.  
  
"One last surprise, Pep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this so far! I'm new here, any feedback would be much appreciated <3


	3. Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter pays a visit to the lake house, where Tony reveals himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written before Spider-Man: Far from Home came out, so I have no idea what happens in there. I'm just going with this: Peter and Happy have been having some Mysterio-related adventures in Europe, and now Peter's --- suspiscious, to say the least, about anyone who looks like a certain someone he used to know. (*cough* Mysterio's definitely gonna freak with Peter's mind in FFH by appearing as Tony and I'm not ready for it *cough*)
> 
> Oh, sorry to disappoint, but no soft Pepperony reunion at the hospital here... Hope you still enjoy what this chapter has instead :)

"Peter! Over here." Pepper pulled the sedan next to him, rolling the window down.  
  
Taking his earphones off, Peter dropped his duffel in the back and settled in the front seat. "Hey, Mrs. Stark! I appreciate it, but I could've walked, really."  
  
Pepper eyed him sideways as they slowly pulled away from the bus station. "Long way to walk, kid. Don't worry, I don't mind. Besides, I... wanted to talk to you about something, okay? Something I wasn't comfortable talking about over the phone."  
  
"Oh, uh, is this about Europe? 'Cause it got all sorted out, and I mean, Happy's still kinda busy back there but--"  
  
"No, no this isn't about Europe." Pepper took a breath. "Although we heard what happened, and... we're sorry, Peter. Gotta tell you, you don't look so hot right now. Sounds like you could really use this weekend off, huh?"  
  
"Tell me about it," Peter exhaled, rubbing his still-sore left wrist, thankfully his last remaining serious injury. "You look nice yourself, though, Mrs. Stark. I--I mean, you don't look so... I mean, the past few months --- you look like you finally, um, slept well... um..." he cleared his throat awkwardly, and didn't notice the corners of Pepper's mouth turn up at that comment. She did look --- radiant, he thought. She looked ten years younger, and she smiled more easily. She'd never smiled so easily since --- since the funeral... _oh God, back up, Peter. Back up._ "I didn't mean to bring that up, I'm so sorry," he sputtered. "Um... uh... How's Morgan doing? Wait, did you have to leave her home alone just to pick me up?"  
  
Pepper chuckled. "I'd never! She's home with--" she broke off as they made a turn.  
  
They were nearing the lake house, Peter noted. Gosh, he'd missed this view --- so beautiful, so peaceful. He got so busy looking out the window, it took him a while to register the marginal slowing down of the car and the fact that Pepper had left her sentence hanging for a few seconds now.  
  
"Um... Mrs. Stark?"  
  
Pepper sighed. "Sorry. We've --- kind of gone full circle on this conversation now, so... better just drop the hammer..."  
  
Peter nodded though he wasn't sure what she meant. "Is everything okay?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah everything's... everything's okay..." Pepper broke off again. A few seconds of fidgety silence later, they were pulling up at the lake house driveway. "What the hell, he was right, better to let him handle this." Peter barely heard Pepper's comment. She let out a heavy breath as she parked. "Peter, look... sometimes, crazy things --- happen, they just do... You of all people would know..."  
  
Peter felt like a bobblehead. "I--I guess?"  
  
"--and sometimes those things can feel unreal, especially when it's something --- good, you know? Something amazing. But it's not. Unreal, I mean." She released her seat belt and looked over at Peter expectantly.  
  
"Uh-huh, okay. Sorry but... you kinda lost me there, Mrs. Stark." He made ready to get out of the car but waited for her.  
  
Pepper sighed. "Okay, um, look. Peter. Just to... prepare you..."  
  
"Petey!" Morgan zipped out from around the house, straight to his side of the car, and Pepper's strange ramble fell out of Peter's mind. He had to be careful opening the door to make sure he didn't hit the bouncing little kid outside.  
  
"Morgan! He-ey, good to see ya."  
  
He'd gotten quite used to her hugs by now, but they still made him smile every time. When she pulled away he took the opportunity to grab his bag, wondering at her sudden vivaciousness when she had been more... thoughtfully somber the last time he visited.  
  
"How's my favorite superhero?" Morgan sang out, taking his free hand and swinging it. Pepper smiled fondly as she locked the car after them.  
  
Peter laughed, swinging their hands out even further as they made their way side by side to the front door. "I'm good, I'm good. How's _my_ favorite superhero?"  
  
Morgan skidded to a halt, gasping like Peter had stumbled on some big secret. "Mommy told you already! He's back! Petey, are you happy?"  
  
Peter scrunched his brows. "I was talking about --- who's back?"  
  
"Morgan--" behind them, Pepper's eyes went wide.  
  
"Daddy's back! He's waiting for you out on the balcony. He's back, Petey!"  
  
Whatever enthusiastic response Morgan was clearly expecting, she didn't get it. Petey had frozen in his tracks. Petey was staring at her. Then he dropped his bag, whipped his head around to Pepper. But Pepper froze too. And time froze. And Petey continued to gape, open-mouthed.  
  
Then Petey ran.

 

* * *

 

God, he'd missed this view. The remoteness, the stillness, the plain peacefulness of it. Tony sat facing the lake with a juice pop in his hand, his sunglasses projecting recent news for him to catch up on. Not that he read them much anymore. As soon as they got word that the Europe incident had been wrapped up and Spider-Man had gone home, he'd stopped stalking all the media outlets. That was all the news he cared about.  
  
"Daddy, they're here!" Morgan had heard the car before he did. She leapt up from the table beside him, scattering crayons.  
  
"Careful, honey!" Tony called after her, shutting the news projections off. _Has it really been only five months? How did she grow up so fast?_  
  
His right shoulder sent a sudden pang down his side as he turned; Tony winced and settled himself back in his chair. He still had his moments. Right now he could barely walk without Pepper supporting him, even though he'd been out of Cho's facility for a couple of weeks. _Oh well, slowly but surely, right?_  
  
"Petey!" He could hear Morgan's high-pitched voice from here... then another voice --- Peter's. He felt a lump in his throat. _Peter._  
  
Tony couldn't help but feel fate was playing a cat-and-mouse game with him and the kid. First the decimation, then his death, then the stint in Europe --- they just couldn't catch a break. Until today. He sat up a little straighter at the thought. _Until today. They had today._  
  
Pounding. Footsteps pounding. Surprised, Tony strained his neck in the direction of the house; surely Pepper had given the kid some advance warning before...  
  
Tony barely felt the rush of wind that came with him; pure shock kept him rooted where he sat. "STAY THERE!!!" Peter roared. He'd leapt in front of Tony's chair in an instant, webshooters out and pointed at him, hands shaking. "If this is another one of your tricks! If this is --- I swear to God!"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Parker!"  
  
"Peter, wait!" They heard Pepper racing through the house, Morgan at her heels.  
  
"How did you get here? HOW DID YOU FIND THEM?"  
  
"Peter, stand down, no need for all this!" Tony raised his left arm in a surrendering gesture. "I am literally unarmed here! Stand down!" _Well, this certainly wasn't going according to plan._

 

* * *

 

 _Things definitely weren't going according to plan,_ Peter moaned to himself. He'd just wanted to have a nice holiday, spend time with Morgan, visit Mr. Stark's grave and maybe gain some closure after Europe.  
  
Not come face-to-face with the man.  
  
Even as he screamed at him, though, Peter could sense something was off. The injuries, for one --- burns on his right side, a whole arm missing --- Beck hadn't bothered with details like that before...  
  
"Pete, stand down, okay? Please, you're gonna scare Morgan." His tone was calm and almost --- gentle? Something deep inside nudged Peter. _He's not Beck._  
  
"Petey?" Morgan approached slowly, wide-eyed. _When did she get here?_ Peter stared transfixed at her. "Petey --- why are you mad at Daddy?"  
  
Still, Peter remained silent. Staring. Shaking.  
  
Pepper came up slowly behind her daughter, then stood beside the man, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Peter," she whispered, "it's not Beck." The words echoed with his rapid heartbeat --- _not Beck not Beck not Beck._  
  
With an obvious effort, the man pushed himself off the chair with his left hand, gently waving away Pepper's offered assistance. "Kid?"  
  
_Not Beck not Beck not Beck..._  
  
"Morgan, come with me inside? Let's give Daddy a moment..." Peter barely heard Pepper's words, barely noticed her and Morgan retreat, barely saw anything through his fogging vision... _not Beck not Beck..._  
  
The man took his glasses off --- he was looking Peter straight in the eyes --- _not Beck not Beck..._ Taking a step forward, he patted Peter's hands down... He didn't even realize he'd still been pointing his webshooters at the man this whole time... _not Beck not Beck not ---_  
  
"Kid, it's me. Hey. Look at me. Peter."  
  
Peter looked. Really looked this time.  
  
And finally the realization fell, like a rock in water. And all went still. _Not Beck._ Peter's voice cracked, small and shaking.  
  
_"Tony?"_

 

* * *

 

"Mommy, I'm sorry..."  
  
"No, honey, no. It's my fault, I didn't warn him before..." Pepper sighed, leaning against the counter. "But it's alright, okay? They'll be alright, let's just let them talk by themselves for a while."  
  
Morgan nodded. Let them talk by themselves. When Daddy first got home, Mommy let her and Daddy talk by themselves a lot too.  
  
"Why was Petey angry, Mommy?"  
  
Pepper chewed her lip. "Peter --- missed Daddy too, sweetheart, but a bad man played a trick on Peter. He made himself look like Daddy, and that made Peter angry. But he's gone now. Peter knows it's really Daddy this time." She stroked Morgan's hair reassuringly.  
  
Morgan cocked her head sideways. "If someone played a trick on me, about Daddy, I'd be angry too."  
  
"Yeah," Pepper exhaled. "Me too, honey. Peter's been through a lot."  
  
"Maybe lunch will cheer him up."  
  
Pepper smiled. "Good idea. Help me set the table?"  
  
She nodded, but as soon as her mother headed toward the kitchen Morgan slipped back to the living room. She just wanted to make sure Petey was okay. That he and Daddy were okay.  
  
Peeking through the window, she found them standing outside, same place they were before. And they were hugging.  
  
Petey had both his arms around Daddy, sobbing into Daddy's shoulder. Daddy had his back to her, but Morgan could tell his one arm was around Petey, rubbing circles on his back. She liked it when he rubbed circles on her back. It got her calm.  
  
Daddy pulled back a little, and he kissed Petey's cheek. Morgan couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw Petey nodding. And then he laughed. Daddy laughed too.  
  
"Morgan?" Pepper called from the kitchen. Morgan smiled as she rushed back to her mother. Petey was gonna be okay.

 

* * *

 

Peter collapsed on the couch. "This is... crazy," he breathed.  
  
Tony smiled gently, lowering himself back in his chair with his left hand. "Yeah, well. Crazy happens sometimes, kid."  
  
"Who else knows?"  
  
"Besides Strange and Dr. Cho's team, the four people in this house. Oh, and um, Rhodey, I called him two days ago. Haven't seen him cry like that since college, so... thought I'd go a little slower on the whole reveal-reunion thing for everyone else. No rush, right?"  
  
"Um. I--I guess. And wh--what about, what about Harley?"  
  
"You know Harley?"  
  
"He was at your... um, at your funeral." The softness of his own voiced surprised Peter. He cleared his throat. "We talked. Surprised you never introduced us before."  
  
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, I tend to... compartmentalize. But I'm glad you met. Anyways, Harley has a big MIT thing this week, so I'm thinking to wait a bit before --- you know. Don't want to distract him. But I'm definitely inviting him back here soon."  
  
"Happy? D--Doctor Banner?"  
  
"Happy's been busy, but he's next on the list. Bruce is kind of... involved with SHIELD right now, and they're the last people I want finding out, so. Gotta tread a little more lightly there."  
  
"And... anyone else you plan on telling?"  
  
"Need-to-know basis. In other words, no. For now." _For now._ When the time came, he'd bring himself to contact Clint. And Steve (oh boy, how the old-man jokes would come in now), and Thor, if he ever swung by this side of the universe again. Even Nick. Tony had a message to deliver, after all. But --- for now --- he had more important places to be. Like right here.  
  
Peter nodded, more to clear his head than to acknowledge anything. Tony cocked his head as if waiting for more questions. "I--I'm sorry, I..." _Breathe, Peter. Breathe._ He blew out slowly, hoping his swirling thoughts would blow away with it. "It's --- this is a lot to take in, Mr. Stark."  
  
Tony shifted himself until he was facing Peter more directly. "It's okay, kid," he whispered. Their gaze held for a moment. "It's okay."  
  
Slowly, Peter let himself fall back on the cushions. Soft, so soft. _Breathe._  
  
As if to copy him, Tony leaned back on his chair too. "Oh, by the way." The moment having passed, now his gentle voice took on a more teasing edge. "Are we back to 'Mr. Stark' here? I thought we were already at 'Tony.'"  
  
Peter smiled, wiping his still-wet face with the back of his hand. "Well, you know,  _Tony_ , I think Morgan's waving to us from the window behind you."  
  
"Ooh, must be lunchtime! You like cheeseburgers, right?"  
  
"Sure, yeah." What did Tony think he and Morgan had been binge-eating for weeks after the funeral?  
  
"Yeah. Good. Could you help me up?"

 

* * *

 

Tony and Peter talked again that afternoon, and late into the night. Talked about everything, talked about nothing, talked about all in between. Talked five and a half years' worth of conversations out on that balcony.  
  
When Pepper finally went out to call Morgan for her bedtime, she found her already asleep. On Peter's lap. While he leaned against Tony's shoulder. The gentle breeze rocked all three of them in their sleep.  
  
Pepper smiled at them tenderly. She'd wake them all up soon, get them to bed. But for now... for now she simply savored the scene in front of her. The comforting familiarity they all had with each other, the strong sense of _right_ in their being together after all that kept them apart. The sheer peacefulness of a family reunited.  
  
Oh, how she missed this view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna add another chapter for Morgan but that's probably not gonna happen in the near future, so I'm just gonna rate this complete for now. If I ever do get to the Morgan chapter, it's gonna be all plotless fluff anyway.
> 
> And yeah, I just couldn't resist the Irondad cheek kiss. God bless RDJ for that BTS footage.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who read this, esp. those of you who left comments/kudos! <3


End file.
